Ingredients

Preparation

Whisk together zest, lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and a pinch of salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Add butter all at once and cook over moderately low heat, whisking constantly, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubbles appear on surface, about 10 minutes. Immediately pour curd through a fine sieve into a bowl, then chill, covered.

This is a great recipe made many times before. But today it didn't turn out like curd. I've always used a wooden spoon and should have heeded another reviewer's advice. A whisk just broke it up and the butter separated out. Hopefully I will be able to recover it by mixing with whipping cream.
I also substituted 1/2 the sugar with Splenda as I have 2 diabetics at the dinner table. So, some of the food science might not have worked in my favour. However, the flavour is still fantastic.

I will never serve jarred lemon curd again - this was outstanding! As others suggested I added an extra egg yolk and strained it for a silky -smooth texture. I was also vigilant with whisking it throughout the cooking. Just wonderful and it all disappeared at the Tea Party!

Epicurious saved me on this one. I made a curd using another recipe which was not specific about the thickness of the curd when it is done. I reheated my thinner curd and had good results. My recipe calls for 3 eggs, 1/2 C lemon juice, the zest and only 1/4 C of butter ( half a stick) cut up in cubes. It takes patience to get the curd thick enough but it will get there.

I made this as a filling to the Lemon Meringue Ice Cream Pie with Toasted Pecan Crust. I used about half of the recipe for the pie, and was very glad to have leftovers for scones. I did cook the curd in a double boiler - it was nice and smooth, and cooked very evenly.

I can't believe I've never made lemon curd before. This recipe turned out great. I don't really understand the part about using a whisk the whole time--seems like it breaks up what you want to keep together. I switched to a wooden spoon (with the little corner edge to get the edge of the pan) and stirred up like I would ice cream custard. Thickened perfectly.

this is amazing! i use it all the time - it's easy,
fast, and delicious! one tip: you can cook it over
high heat, it's much faster than what the recipe
says, but doesn't change the final product at all. all
in all, a fabulous recipe! :)

This recipe was so
easy to make and so
delicious! I cooked
it over medium heat
and had no problem
with it thickening.
I left the zest in
but would strain it
out next time as I
think it interferes
with the silky
texture of the curd.

It's not setting up! How frustrating. I followed
the recipe to a tee but it didn't thicken enough
once it started to simmer. Maybe I should have
cooked it even longer (12 minutes), maybe I
should have cooked it over a higher heat (it said
moderately low). I'm used to a recipe in which
yolks and whole eggs are used with more juice
and less sugar. Then the butter is whisked in
tbs by tbs off
of the heat after the ingredients come to a
simmer. That usually produces a nice, thick
curd. This recipe is much lighter and a bit
soupy. I'm just hoping it's thick enough to
support the blueberries for my tart!!

Super Easy until you
realize you are
whisking away and it
is not
thickening...because
you forgot the eggs!
Talking on the phone
and cooking not
good.
I whisked the eggs
in another bowl and
tempered them with
about a half cup of
the lemon mixture,
poured everything
together and THEN I
had curd. I used
Meyer lemons and it
took 5 of them for
this recipe. The
smell is amazing and
the taste even
better!

Delicious, if a
little rich (and
that's using the
right amount of
butter 1 3/4 sticks,
not cups). I thought
it was taking a long
time to thicken over
low heat so I turned
it up to medium and
it thickened
beautifully. Not
going to strain it
because it sounds
like a messy job and
I like the bits of
lemon zest.

I didn't rate this. If I had rated it the first time I made it, I'd have given it 4 forks. The 2nd and 3rd times, it wouldn't thicken. I never got the whisk marks in the curd. I threw away batch #2. Batch #3 is cooling. I hope it will thicken but have my doubts.

Didn't have enough lemons on hand, so halved the recipe. Excellent results without sieving. Time to cook was right on. As a curd snob, this will be my go to recipe because the results are good and it is EASY!

I made this almost exactly as
written. The only change being that
I used 5 eggs, because I had "home
grown" eggs that are a bit small.
This lemon curd is the easiest I've
ever made. And the flavor is
incredible. My English friend says
it's as good as her mum's.
I'm going to try this again using
other citrus (I'm thinking blood
orange and lemon?). Fantastic!

Decided to try my hand at lemon curd after being ridiculed by my British friends for buying it. This recipe was easy and worked out perfectly--even down to the 10 minute time suggestion. I will never used purchased lemon curd again! I did not strain it but left the zest in that was produced with a microplane zester--very fine and adds some appreciated texture and zip. The only down side was seeing HOW MUCH butter goes into the recipe. I will be enjoying it sparingly on toast and scones, but enjoying it all the same.

I have a meyer lemon tree in my yard so I make lemon curd quite a bit. This recipe is easier than some I've made and makes a great curd with a good color and very nice consistency. I doubled it with no problem at all and will use the curd as a filling in the Fresh Coconut Layer Cake, also found on this site. Will definitely make this again.

Very easy, tart and
zippy...just what I
look for in a lemon
curd. I actually
reduced the sugar by
1/3 cup. This recipe
could never be
bitter unless you
don't zest the lemon
properly. (NEVER
include any of the
white part!)

This recipe yielded the worst lemon curd I have ever had. With this amount of actual fresh lemon juice and zest, the curd was bitter beyond the wonderful lemon flavor we all make this for. Also, the directions did not work for me, I heated this curd for 20 minutes at the directed level of heat and did not achieve wisk tracks in the curd. There are better recipes out there.

This curd is fabulous and could become the central ingredient of many deserts and sweets. A good balance between tart and sweet. No fussing with cornstarch, no water to thin out the flavor, just yumminess through and through. It's straightforward to make also, once the lemons are squeezed. I used lemons picked fresh from our tree which must have helped the vibrant flavor. However, I think it would be stunning anyway.